Durfee educators looking at possibility of extending early-college high school program

Monday

May 5, 2014 at 9:11 PMMay 5, 2014 at 9:25 PM

Though funding is cited as major hurdle, school says expanded program would be a huge boon to students.

Michael Gagne Herald News Staff Reporter @HNMikeGagne

FALL RIVER — The vast majority of high school students who have signed up for the dual enrollment program offered by B.M.C. Durfee High School and Bristol Community College are experiencing success — even more so than BCC’s regular college students, in many cases.

The revelation was initially made a few weeks ago during a meeting of the Early College Subcommittee.

But as the School Department looks at whether to expand Durfee’s current dual enrollment program into a full early-college high school setup — wherein students could potentially graduate from high school with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree — there are some obstacles to overcome, primarily funding such a program and reaching an agreement on its structure.

In the current vision for the proposed early-college high school program, students would take both high school and college courses during their normal high school years. Then they would remain at Durfee for another year, during which they also would be fully enrolled at BCC as college students — at no cost to them.

The funding concern includes whether the School Department would be able to receive state education aid for early-college high school students in that extra year. Massachusetts Chapter 70 state aid provides the majority of funds expended on education in Fall River.

“One of the things we’re looking at is Chapter 70 reimbursements,” said School Committee Vice Chairman Mark Costa on Monday. Costa is also chairman of the Early College Subcommittee.

“Those students would technically still fall under our rolls," Costa said. "We would have to work out with the city, as not all of the money makes it down to the School Department. Part of the next steps to look at the finances, whether or not it is feasible.”

It’s not a question of whether students will succeed in a early-college high school program, if implemented.

“The students who are involved in dual enrollment at Durfee and BCC, those students are exceeding normal college students in terms of success,” Costa said. “Our students are actually doing really well. There are some signs that this program is working.”

Those signs were shared at the subcommittee’s April 17 meeting. For example, there are currently 54 students taking more than 50 college-level dual enrollment courses at BCC.

At that meeting, BCC President John Sbrega noted that dual enrollment students were enjoying high success rates, and the majority were completing the courses they took at BCC.

“The question about completion is not a problem at this stage. The success rate demonstrates value,” Sbrega said.

But at this point, BCC is unable to offer more than one course per semester free of charge, Sbrega noted at the meeting. “The first course is free. The second course is subsidized.”

Funding for dual enrollment programs statewide is provided through limited Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Program grants, which were reinstated in 2011. Those grants have remained at the same level since they were reinstated.

According to budget figures, those grants, which totaled $750,000, were disbursed among the state’s 15 community colleges, as well as other state universities.

Last Tuesday, Durfee’s guidance department head Kim Napolitano said “it’s too early to tell” when a full-fledged early-college high school will be come a reality at Durfee. There are still many hurdles to clear.

“I think there’s a lot of work to do. We’re hopeful,” Napolitano said.

For the students taking advantage of current dual enrollment opportunities, it has been an advantage.

“It does help a lot of our students get into top competitive colleges,” Napolitano said.

The Early College Subcommittee will convene again later this month.

“I think we’re moving along. I think there are still questions that need to be answered,” Costa said.

He said if students have the opportunity to experience more college-level work while at Durfee, they will likely meet those demands.

“What we know here in our district is students will rise to the level of the bar that’s set for them.”

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